This blog will be about charts for the next little while. Statistics show capitalism at a high level of abstraction. They provide snapshots that let socialists talk about an industry, 'the military-industrial complex', or the capitalist system as a whole.

And I'm dissatisfied with the left's focus on what company A or corporation B is doing. Sure, Wal~Mart is an evil corporation. But capitalism is about whole industries, countries, regions. Focusing on a company can be reformist. It can imply that if only that company changed, capitalism would somehow be better.

Capitalism is a system of exploitation: it's not any one corporation, any more than the war in Iraq is George Bush's fault alone. If we're going to talk about a system, then let's look at what it's doing - as a system.

We've got the whole world in our arms

I've always known Canada had a large military industry. But how large? The numbers shocked me.



Sure, in a global arms market worth $4.89 billion in 2003, Canada's $670 million might not sound like much. But as the chart shows, Canada's weapons sales have shot up in the past few years, from 3% of global arms sales in 2001, to over 14% in 2004 - that's an increase of almost 500%. And it doesn't include military vehicles & systems, something else Canadian companies have 'expertise' in.

Who are we selling these arms to? According to Project Plougshares, just about everyone: India, the UK, South Korea, Mexico, the list goes on.

When we talk about imperialism, we usually mean government military spending. But the private sector plays a huge role in supplying the weapons for imperialism. And that role is growing.


Made in Canada, used around the world - C7 Assault Rifle, shown with firing mechanism